Running the Place
by Lady Sigyn
Summary: Quatre runs his mansion different than most rich people do, but he didn't know until someone visited. Better than it sounds. **Finished**
1. Chapter 1

  
  
Running the Place  
By Baka Daz  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Quatre, or any GW characters, the belong to Bandai inc., Sunrise, and Sotsu agency.  
  
  
A/N:This story was originally meant to be funny, but I made some parts a little dramatic. But it does get funny...or what my friends consider as funny...I started it this way, because I wanted to show Quatre's relationship with these people. Plus, it introduces some original characters I made up quickly to work for him -- and I mean *quickly*  
  
  
The bucket of soapy water was, no doubt rather warm. She felt it when she put the washcloth in. The warmth on her hands felt good, but she knew she couldn't just stand there all day. Pulling her hand out of the bucket, and wiping the water on her hand off on her clothes, she reached down and picked the bucket up.  
  
The bucket was sort of heavy, as she carried it with her body leaning down towards its weight. She reached the big windows that she was supposed to wash. The huge windows that you could open and step outside, but you couldn't go too far, because the little ledge wasn't nearly enough to keep you from falling down the 3 stories. She reached her hand in the bucket and pulled out the cloth, and used her other hand to help ring it out a little. She turned to the window and was ready to wash it when she saw someone on the other side.  
  
She was startled at the body of someone, and then noticed the face. She sighed and looked at the person on the other side of the window. "Master Quatre..."  
  
Quatre grinned and waved at her from outside of the window. He knew the big window was real good at separating sound, and he didn't really want to yell to her through it, but she didn't have a problem yelling to him.  
  
"Master Quatre!" she yelled through the window. "What are you doing out there?"  
  
Quatre reached by his side and pulled up his own bucket of soapy water. He smirked at her and pointed the glass. Then, he sat his bucket down and nodded his head.  
  
She shook her head. "That's my job! An employer isn't supposed to do his employee's job!" She didn't want to yell to him through the window and went to open the window. Whether, she forgot about the small ledge, or it slipped her mind that you had to push the window to open it, Quatre got pushed off the edge as she opened it, and he grabbed for the bottom of it before he fell. But that didn't help his bucket of water, which fell to the ground.   
  
"Oh! I'm sorry!" she yelled as she went to close the window. Quatre climbed back over the edge and onto the platform. He made a motion for her to step back, and he went as far over as he could where he could open it and come through so that now they were on the same side of the window.  
  
Quatre closed the window behind him and gave her a funny look. "Next time warn me before you do that," he joked. That didn't make the girl feel happy though. "I'm sorry, Master Quatre," she whispered. Quatre smiled. "Don't be, I was in a war, remember? I'm sure falling is a lot better than getting stabbed, shot at, knocked over..." he trailed off as she giggled a bit.   
  
"What do you think you were doing anyways?" she asked him when she remembered what he had been doing. "My job is to help keep this place clean, that's not your job."  
  
"Just thought I'd help..."  
  
She shook her head at him. "You were just trying to get out of sitting on your butt all day reading papers and signing them. I know. But if you want to help, why don't you try something not as life risking. Eh?"  
  
He smiled at her. "Yeah," he replied. "But I think I've been holding this off for far too long. I'll go work now..."  
  
"Wait, Mast Quatre," the girl said suddenly.  
  
"Cheryl?"  
  
"It's Claire...she's...well, I'm not supposed to tell you but she's pregnant..."  
  
"Oh," Quatre replied cheerfully. "I didn't even know she was married."  
  
Cheryl frowned. "She isn't."  
  
"Oh, dating?"   
  
Cheryl's frown deepened and she shook her head.  
  
"...I'll go talk to her," Quatre said as he walked off towards the kitchen.   
  
Quatre looked into the kitchen and sighed when no one was in there. He pulled his head out and glanced over to a red head pushing a vacuum pass him. "Claire," he said as she walked by.   
  
She stopped and looked over toward him. "Hm?"  
  
"Can I talk to you?" he asked her.  
  
She got a bit of fright to her, but shrugged trying to hide it. "Sure."  
  
Quatre pointed down the hall, she knew he wanted her to go to the big living room. She started rolling her vacuum that way, since that's where she was going anyways, Quatre walking right behind her, as if marching her off.  
  
They reached the big living room, and Quatre closed the door. He pointed to the couch and asked her to sit. Claire sat down on the couch and looked at him worriedly. He came over to her and knelt down in front of her.   
  
"How long have you known?"   
  
Claire frowned. Deep inside she had known that was what he was going to ask. But, she had hoped so much he wouldn't have asked.  
  
"Who told you?"  
  
"It doesn't matter who told me. Come on, talk to me. Tell me when."  
  
She shrugged. "A week ago."  
  
"How did this happen?"  
  
She looked away. She couldn't look him in the eye -- heck, she couldn't even look him in the face. "It was a one night stand."  
  
Quatre closed his eyes and looked down. "Have you talked to him?"  
  
"No, haven't seen him." she couldn't tell him that she didn't even remember his name. She felt terrible enough.  
  
Quatre looked up to her. He reached his hand up to touch her cheek, and gently turned her head to look at him. "What are you going to do?"  
  
"I...I think I'll...take it away."  
  
Quatre's eyes widened. "You mean an abortion?" She was quiet. Her silence told him that that was what she was thinking. Quatre shook his head vigorously. "Don't do that Claire! Life is a good thing; don't take the baby's life away. If it's money you need, I'll help. If it's rest you need...take a year! Besides, anyone who works for me knows if they're fatally injured, or pregnant, or whatever that they get to take as much time off as they need."  
  
Claire's eyes got watery. Quatre looked at her sternly. "If you need any help...just ask me."  
  
Tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, Master Quatre." she sobbed, and without thinking, hugged him. Quatre's stern look faded and it turned into a small smile and blushed like crazy.  
  
"Uh...Claire...*ahem*." Claire pulled away from him. "Sorry. Thanks." They gave each other a smile.  
  
"I've got to go to work now," Quatre said as he got up. "Take a long vacation." Claire nodded and wiped her tears away. Quatre gave her another smile and left the big living room.  
  
On his way to his office to work, Quatre peeked into the kitchen hoping there wasn't anyone in there. Luckily, there wasn't. So he snuck in, got an apple, and snuck back out. He wasn't 'allowed' to eat right before dinner, but he was hungry.  
  
He walked pass his secretary's desk. He took a bite of his apple and looked at her. She looked back. She knew he wanted to say something, so she waited. Quatre put a finger up, signaling he's say something as soon as he finished chewing. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Any calls? More work? Good, because I've got a good amount to do now."  
  
The secretary smiled at him. "No, you don't have any new calls, but --"  
  
"Uh, excuse me. Quatre?"  
  
Quatre looked over toward the over the hill and overweight woman, standing a few feet away. Quatre raised a brow. "Yes, Betty?"   
  
Suddenly, Betty pointed at the apple. "Where'd you get that?" Her answer was a sly smile from Quatre. She sighed, but smiled back.  
  
"Anyways...Quatre...I've been cooking for you since you were 10, right?"  
  
Quatre nodded.  
  
"And I've always been so kind to you and things..."  
  
"What's the catch?"  
  
"Oh, Master Quatre...I don't have enough food for dinner tonight. You're not mad are you?"  
  
Quatre gave her a smile. "No, of course not. I usually don't eat that much anyways."  
  
"But...what about your guest?"  
  
"...What guest?"  
  
"Your guest that's going to be staying with us today."  
  
Quatre looked over to his secretary. "Donna, I have a guest?"  
  
Donna bit her lip. "I didn't tell you?"  
  
Quatre shook his head.  
  
"Uh oh..." She thought for a moment. "Well, you see...Mr. Benford, he's a rather rich man, he was passing through the area and thought he'd stay here for a day just to see how well this colony is run."  
  
"Oh, how kind for him to have asked me first." Quatre gave a small smile at his joke. "When will he be here?"  
  
The loud sound of the doorbell echoed off all the walls of the mansion. "Uh...that would be him," Donna replied. Quatre cocked his head to the side and gave her a look. He took another bite of his apple and thought.  
  
"Okay. Betty, I want you to run to the store, take someone with you, but not Claire. She's on vacation. Donna, could you make sure I have a nice stack of portfolios on my desk? And, also, tell Geoffrey that I'll get the door."   
  
"Alright," Betty replied and walked off.  
  
"Okay then, Master Quatre." Donna said.  
  
Quatre reached the door and opened it. Standing as straight as he could because he wanted to make a good first impression. He opened the door to a man that was a little on the plump side. He had a little amount of black hair on his head, which almost looked like a toupee, and a bit of a moustache growing under his nose. In one hand he had a suitcase, and in the other an umbrella.   
  
"I'm here to see Mr. Winner," the man said, rather gruffly.  
  
"You must be Mr. Benford?"  
  
"Yes," the man said looking at him suspiciously. "Who're you?"  
  
Quatre grinned. "'Mr. Winner'."  
  
Mr. Benford raised an eyebrow. "Why are you answering your own door?"  
  
Quatre stared at him blankly.  
  
"Well?" Mr. Benford said. "Aren't you going to let me in?"  
  
"Oh, right!" Quatre said and stepped aside so he could come in. "Sorry. Come on in."  
  
Mr. Benford nodded and walked in, Quatre closing the door behind him. Just then, someone came running into the room. As soon as she saw the two she stopped. "Master Quatre?"  
  
"Cheryl?"  
  
The black-haired girl sighed. "Master Quatre, are you going to do all of my jobs today?"  
  
"Oh," Quatre said. "I didn't know you were going to answer the door. Usually, Geoffrey answers the door. That's why I asked Donna not to let him answer the door. I wanted to meet Mr. Benford personally."  
  
"Oh," Cheryl said. She looked over towards the man. "Hello there, Mr. Benford." She put her hand out to shake it.  
  
Mr. Benford raised his brow. "Are you a maid?"  
  
Cheryl blinked. "I suppose..." she said. Then, she was surprised with what was said next.  
  
"Aren't you going to take my coat?"  
  
Cheryl blinked again. "Uh...sure, Mr. Benford." They stood there looking at each other for a moment. After a moment, of where Cheryl didn't come over to take his jacket off, he took it off himself and shoved it at her. Then, he gave her his umbrella. Cheryl almost gave him a glare, and would have if he weren't a guest. Instead, she made her way over to the closet, and hung his coat up.  
  
"Well..." Quatre was a little shocked at what had just happened, but none the less..."Mr. Benford, how long will you be staying with us?"  
  
"Most likely a day," was his answer.   
  
Quatre nodded his head. "Well, let me take your bag...and I will lead you to your room." Quatre reached down for his suitcase in his hand, only to have him pull it out of his grasp.  
  
"You have no one to do that for you?" Mr. Benford asked him.   
  
Quatre blinked. "Huh? Uh...well...I'm not sure where Geoffrey is now, but..." Just then, Cheryl came back, only to have a giant suitcase in her face.  
  
"Are you going to take me to my room, now?" Mr. Benford asked her a little irritated. She got a little irritated too, and grabbed the suitcase out of his hand. This suitcase was way heavier than that bucket of water; she almost toppled over from its weight.   
  
"Right," she replied through gritted teeth. "Right this way, Mr. Benford." She started walking off, with Mr. Benford right behind her. Just then, Quatre took another bite of his apple in his hand, feeling pity for her going up the stairs with the weight of that thing. He stood shaking his head. Mr. Benford didn't seem very polite, but maybe he'd been having a bad day. Yes, he must have been having a bad day...  
  
Cheryl reached the guest room and as soon as she got in dropped the suitcase on the bed. She just had to go up two flights of stairs with that thing. She crossed her arms. "Your room."   
  
Mr. Benford looked around. "Yes...it looks rather clean. Good. Oh," he turned to look at her. "You will be bringing my coat up, right?"  
  
Cheryl blinked confusedly. "You know where it is...in the closet by the door."  
  
Mr. Benford gave her a strange look. "But I should have it in here."  
  
Cheryl started to loose her temper. "You told me to put it in the closet!"  
  
"Yes. Then I was a visitor, now I'm a guest."  
  
Cheryl couldn't help glaring at him now. "I'll go get it," she said angrily, and marched out of his room, slamming the door behind her.  
  
"Hm," Mr. Benford said. "How rude."  
  
  
End of chapter one. It was short...but it was supposed to be. Now, the good stuff begins!  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

  
  
Running the Place  
Chapter 2  
By BakaDaz  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Quatre, or any GW characters that might be mentioned in this fic. I do own just about everyone else, though...  
  
  
  
The door to the Winner home was opened and two people came in, one girl with brown hair that came to her shoulders, and an older woman with short black hair on her head. "Cook," the girl said. "This is a lot of stuff, why'd we have to buy so much?"  
  
Cook tried to get her bag through the door. "Tasha, I haven't been to the store to get food in awhile. I completely forgot that we were having a guest." The girl name Tasha, gave a little sigh as she trudged her way to the kitchen, Cook right behind her. But before they left the area, they passed by Cheryl.  
  
"What's up, Cheryl?" Tasha asked as soon as she saw the look on her face. Cheryl was red with anger and looked really frustrated...and sounded it too.  
  
"Don't go upstairs! There's a bear up there!" She yelled as she stomped over to the closet by the door. Tasha and Cook looked at each other before they shrugged and kept walking.  
  
Donna looked up as stacks of folders were dropped on her desk. She looked up to see Quatre looking at her, breathing deeply. "Did you really read them all?" she asked him suspiciously.   
  
Quatre nodded his head. "Well, I skimmed. I was halfway done before anyways. But you know, I really don't understand why I have to read them. Someone sends them to me, I read them and send them to someone else, the do the same thing until they get to Minister Darlian. I know Miss Relena has a lot of work to do, too, but she still looks at them."  
  
Donna chuckled. "Well, you sound happy. Look, Cheryl came by and told me to be a little careful around Mr. Benford. I'm not sure why." Quatre nodded his head and she took that as a sign that he knew why. "Also," she decided to add to see his expression. "Cook is back, and I hear dinner is going to be spaghetti." Her reply was a grin from Quatre. Quatre started walking away. "Hey," Donna called after him. "Where're you going?"   
  
Quatre turned his head to look at her. "Oh, I think I should go...taste test it. You know."  
  
Donna shook her head as Quatre ran off.   
  
"Master Quatre, if you don't get out of this kitchen I am going to throw you out!"   
  
Quatre laughed. "C'mon, Cook! Let me just try a bite!"  
  
"No! You want me to throw you out?"  
  
"Go make friends with the bear upstairs," Tasha said. Quatre looked over to her.   
  
"Bear?"  
  
"Yeah, Cheryl said there's a bear up there."  
  
"...She must be talking about Mr. Benford. I guess I should try to speak to him. I was sort of going to wait until dinner, though."   
  
Tasha, sitting at a little circular table with a cooking magazine layed out in front of her, raised an eyebrow. "By the way she said it, I don't think I would want to meet him."   
  
"Hm," Quatre replied, looking over to Cook. "How much longer until dinner's ready, Betty?"  
  
Cook Betty shrugged. "Fifteen minutes."  
  
Quatre nodded. "I'll talk to him then, see?"  
  
Cheryl was down on her hands and feet, scrubbing the floor of the hall with a sponge. She scrubbed the floor hard, trying to remove anything. She moved forward a bit and her sponge came in contact with a shoe. She looked up to a heavyset man. "Mr. Benford," she growled. "You're standing right in my way."  
  
Mr. Benford looked down at her. "Pardon me, but I am walking, and you are in my way."   
  
"I was here first."  
  
"But I am more important than you."  
  
Cheryl was real hurt now. "Move it."  
  
"Don't talk to me in that matter," he replied in an ill-tempered voice.  
  
"And don't talk to me in that matter! I am not the lowest creature in the world!"  
  
"Really? Because right now I'm looking down on you."  
  
Cheryl scowled as she pushed her bucket over and moved out of his way. "Hurry up and pass, I don't have time to wait all day."  
  
"And neither do I, I could be late for dinner."  
  
As Mr. Benford walked away Cheryl mumbled under her breath, "It sure wouldn't ihurt/i you in any way."  
  
"Mr. Winner, sorry for being so later," Mr. Benford said as he came into the dinning hall where Quatre was sitting at the long table.   
  
"Don't worry," Quatre replied with a reassuring smile.  
  
"But that girl needs to learn some manners."  
  
"Girl?"  
  
"Yes. The maid with the wavy black hair."  
  
"Cheryl?"  
  
"Oh, you know her name," Mr. Benford looked real surprised. "I'm impressed. Usually wealthy people like ourselves don't have the time to learn their names." He got a quizzical look from Quatre, but didn't notice and kept going. "As I was saying, she does need some obedience."  
  
"Obedience?" Quatre asked. He hated that word. His father used that word a lot. Usually obedience was used toward animals, but even some animals didn't deserve such a low word.  
  
"But, I shall not begin on that."  
  
Tasha came out of the kitchen with two plats in her hand; she sat one down in front of Mr. Benford. "If you want seconds," she said as she went over to Quatre and sat the other plate down in front of him. "Don't be afraid to ask." She went somewhere in the middle of the table and gave them both smiles. "I hope you enjoy it."   
  
Mr. Benford looked at it for a minute and shrugged. "It looks fair."  
  
Quatre tried to pretend he didn't hear that as he began to eat. "Um...Mr. Benford. That thing you said, about obedience..."  
  
"Don't worry about it, Mr. Winner," he responded. "I think you can do it. Although I think it's odd...why do you allow these people to call you by your name?"  
  
Quatre shrugged. "It's what they like to call me."  
  
"Yes, well...they should call you by your last name, it's more formal. They do work for you and they are of lower class..."  
  
Quatre slurped up a spaghetti string and looked at him. "Lower class? What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, they are lower class than us wealthy people."  
  
Quatre got a little short tempered. "But they are people, Mr. Benford. They disserve as many things as you and I."  
  
"Yes," Mr. Benford sneered. "ipeople/i."  
  
Quatre tried to keep from glaring at him. "Well, you know, some of my best friends are of 'lower class'."  
  
"They are? You mean you don't make friends with rich people?"  
  
"Well, sure. But most of them are snobs."  
  
"'Snobs?' What a funny word." Mr. Benford chuckled as he used a spoon to swirl spaghetti around his fork.  
  
Quatre sighed and shook his head.  
  
"You know what, Mr. Winner? I have come to a decision," Mr. Benford said suddenly.   
  
Quatre sat up. "You're leaving early?"  
  
"Of course not. Actually, I think I'll stay longer just so I can teach you the real way to run this place."  
  
"Oh no, Mr. Benford, you don't have to..."  
  
"I insist."   
  
Quatre groaned. He didn't feel as hungry as he had been before, not even for one of his top 5 favorite foods.   
  
"You'll see," Mr. Benford said. "I'll start correcting your mistakes tomorrow..."   
  
i8:45 a.m. the next morning..../i  
  
Meg looked at the man, very exasperated. "Mr. Benford..."  
  
Mr. Benford put his hand up. "Listen, I just want to know. You will be cleaning my room and making my bed, correct?"  
  
"I will be dusting and vacuuming."  
  
"But you will not make my bed?"  
  
Meg sighed. "Look, Mr. Benford, usually I only work for Mr. Winner. And he's up, gotten his bed made, eaten, and out on his morning exercise before I even get here in the morning. I don't do beds, I don't do windows."  
  
Mr. Benford shook his head.   
  
"I come in, dust, vacuum, got to the next room and do the same thing. Then, when I have all the rooms cleaned, my work is done, and I can go home. Now, Mr. Benford, please, would you leave?"  
  
Mr. Benford sighed. "All right, I'll go! Maybe there's something good for breakfast." And he left his room, leaving Meg by herself.  
  
"I just can't believe it," Cheryl complained. "I mean I'd rather Master Quatre's friends staying over than serving that barbarian."  
  
Geoffrey nodded. "Is he really that bad?"  
  
"Wait until you see him. He acts like a king. Times like this I wish iall four/i of Master Quatre's friends were here. I mean, that Trowa one is quiet..."  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"That Heero one is grumpy, but he doesn't order you around..."  
  
"Yup."  
  
"That Wufei boy yells at you, but he's fun to fight with, especially when you have people to take your side..."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"And Duo, the only thing he ever wants is food, and he always gets that himself."  
  
Geoffrey laughed. "Yep, that's right. Well, if Mr. B is harder to handle than the four of them, I don't want to meet him."  
  
"Trust me, you don't."  
  
"You, maid, move."  
  
Cheryl glared at the person who had said that. "My name is Cheryl, Mr. Benford."  
  
"Yes, but you're a maid, and you're in my way."  
  
"Well," she replied sarcastically, "pardon me!" She stepped over to the side by Geoffrey and watched him go by.   
  
"Oh, that was mean," Geoffrey, said. "'Maid', is that your name now? 'Maid'?"  
  
"Oh, shut up."  
  
Mr. Benford was at the long table in the dining room, eating, when he heard the doors open. He glanced up to see Quatre come in wearing an old gray sweatshirt that looked about a size or two too big for him. His face was red, and he was breathing heavily. "Mr. Winner," Mr. Benford said surprised. "Care to join me for some breakfast?"  
  
"No," Quatre replied. "I already had breakfast, but thanks for asking me."  
  
Mr. Benford took a bite of his bacon, look at Quatre as he came over. He swallowed and pointed his fork at him. "What's this?"  
  
"Huh?" Quatre looked down. "Oh, it's just a sweatshirt I found one day. I go out on walks every morning and wear this all the time. Good thing I did today though, it's chilly outside."  
  
Mr. Benford raised and eyebrow. "Why would you need to exercise every morning? You're the most fit person I've ever met."  
  
'Yeah,' Quatre thought, 'and how many people have you met?' "Really? I didn't think I was...besides, I'm used to it by now. Get up at 5 a.m., eat, watch the new, check the weather, and go out on my 'morning stroll' as I like to call it."  
  
Mr. Benford shook his head. "I couldn't walk that long, I don't understand that. But...I suppose there's nothing wrong with it. I'm going to be watching you, Mr. Winner. Don't have so much mercy." He wiped his mouth with his napkin that had been lying on his lap, and then dropped it on the table.   
  
Quatre reached down for the plate. "Oh, I'll get that for y--" Mr. Benford slapped his hand away.   
  
"Lesson 1," he said. "Don't do things for your workers." Quatre gave him a hurt look, but he started out of the dining hall.   
  
"I'm going to go get out of this shirt, and go work in my office. If you need me that's where I'll be." Mr. Benford nodded to him as Quatre left, shutting the door behind him.  
  
"Master Quatre!!" "Master Quatre!" "Hey, look at this!"   
  
Quatre was interrupted of his typing on his laptop to look up. In ran Trisha, Cheryl, and Geoffrey. He was a bit irritated that he was probably not going to finish his work at all, but there was something about the grins on their faces.  
  
"Master Quatre! You just got a letter!" Tasha cried as she held up an envelope that was addressed to him on it.   
  
Cheryl pulled it out of her grasp. "I want to give it to him!"   
  
Geoffrey pulled it away from him. "Let me give this to him, cuz, guy to guy, you know."  
  
Cheryl gave him a look and pulled on it. "No! Me! Let go!"  
  
"I saw it first!" Tasha whined.  
  
Quatre felt a headache coming to him. "Guys..." he mumbled. But they all kept fighting over the envelope, trying to prove who wanted to give the letter to Quatre the most. Quatre narrowed his eyes and raised his voice. "Guys." But they still weren't paying attention. Quatre didn't want to do this but he felt a migraine coming on. "GUYS!" And it was suddenly silent in the room.  
  
Quatre rubbed his temple and looked at them. "So...what is it?" Each one of the three, holding at least a centimeter of it, sat it down on Quatre's desk before him.   
  
"It's a SWAK letter, Master Q," Tasha said raising an eyebrow.  
  
"...Swak?" Quatre asked, sure he's heard that before.  
  
"SWAK," Cheryl said slowly. "You know S-W-A-K?"  
  
Quatre looked a bit confused.  
  
"It's sealed with a kiss," Geoffrey said in a singsong tone.  
  
Quatre blushed beat red as he opened a drawer of his desk, pulling out an envelope opener, and cut the top of the envelope. He seemed to fumble a bit with the sides as he opened it up and pulled the letter inside out. The paper was folder 3 ways, so he carefully unfolded it. The other three starting to loose their patience. Quatre looked at the letter, and instead of skimming it like he normally did, he read all the words. Of course, somewhere in-between the beginning and middle they saw his face drop and his blush become even redder, how that was possible they didn't know.  
  
Quatre dropped the letter down. "You all shouldn't jump to conclusions like that," he said. But it seemed they didn't hear what he said.  
  
"What did it say? What did it say?" they chanted. Quatre groaned at their child-like behavior. He pushed the paper over to them and they looked down to it.  
  
"It's from one of my sisters, she said she misses me." Quatre tried not to laugh as the other three looked at the letter in shock, Tasha picking it up and reading it, Geoffrey studying the envelope.  
  
"That is wrong," Geoffrey commented. "We love making accusations and conclusions! She tricked us with one."  
  
"We're right a lot with accusations," Tasha said, a bit dazed.   
  
Cheryl didn't seem too effected by this. "Aren't you ever going to get a girlfriend?" was what she asked him irritated.   
  
Quatre had gotten his laugh for the day, but felt like adding onto their irritation they already had by pointing to the door.  
  
"But-"  
  
"I wave work to do," Quatre convinced. They slumped their shoulders and trudged out of the room. Quatre, shaking his head with a smile on his face, he refolded the letter, put it back into the envelope, and put the envelope into his desk. Then he turned back to his laptop.   
  
'Tests have proven children who live in the colonies, are better educated by 25% than those children who live on the earth. No one is sure how this has happened over the years, but there is sure to be a meeting about it on--' Quatre stopped reading what was on the laptop when he heard a noise. He looked up to see Mr. Benford coming in.   
  
"What was that parade about?" Mr. Benford asked him.  
  
"Oh...nothing really, they were just bringing me a letter."  
  
Mr. Benford nodded and sat down in a chair in front of him. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a lighter, and then he reached into another pocket and pulled out a cigar. "You don't mind if I smoke do you?" he asked.  
  
"Actually I d-" Quatre was interrupted by him lighting his cigar in his mouth, and puffing out a circle of smoke. Quatre tried to keep his disgusted look from surfacing. He was always taught how important health was, and he knew for a fact that tobacco wasn't a good thing at all. But he dare not say something like that out loud. "Mr. Benford, is there a reason you're here?"  
  
"Yes," Mr. Benford replied, holding his cigar inches away from his mouth. "I was wondering where one of your televisions might be."  
  
"Oh, well..." Quatre said. "There's one in the small living room."  
  
Mr. Benford put his cigar in his mouth and then reached into his coat, putting his lighter away, with his teeth biting down so as to hold the cigar in his mouth, he managed an "Is that so?"  
  
"Oh!" Quatre said suddenly. "The small living room is located out the door, turn right, down the hall, and it's the 3rd door on the left." Quatre gave him a big smile.  
  
"Yes..." Mr. Benford said. He got up and breathed out a ring of smoke. He glanced around at his desk and then went to the door. "I'm going to be keeping my eye on you," he warned before he left.   
  
As soon as Mr. Benford left, Quatre started coughing, trying to get the smoke out of his lungs, what he'd been holding in while Mr. Benford was in the room.  
  
Quatre jumped out of his seat, ran over and opened the window. "Air! Gee!" he breathed in and out deeply a couple times. But suddenly, there was a yell, a very loud yell, a yell from Mr. Benford. He immediately ran out of his office and down the hall.  
  
"Mr. Benford!" Quatre yelled as he ran into the small living room, hoping there was nothing wrong. "Mr. Benford, are you alright?!" He came to a sudden stop at the doorway.  
  
Mr. Benford was standing up in front of the television staring at it. At the sound of Quatre's yelling he turned around slowly. When he saw Quatre, he looked terrified. Quatre noticed that he was watching the news. "What's wrong, Mr. Benford? Did an accident happen that caused a bunch of people to die? Is there another war starting? What's wrong?"  
  
"It's terrible," Mr. Benford replied. "Can you believe it Quatre? Look at that stock! Look at how much it dropped! Who's running that thing?"  
  
Quatre stared at him for a minute, as if he was a total idiot. He tapped his fingers on a nearby wall, looking at him stressfully. "Mr. Benford...is that all you're yelling about?"   
  
"Is that all?! I want to know who's running that! The Dow dropped a whole 15%!"  
  
Quatre sighed and shook his head. "I thought it was something important," he mumbled.  
  
"You mean people dieing and wars are important to you?" Mr. Benford asked, obviously hearing Quatre's comment.  
  
"Of course. Life is the most important thing in the universe."  
  
"Hm. I don't know...money's very important," Mr. Benford growled. "I wouldn't seem to care if some middle classed person was killed."  
  
Quatre glared at him. "Mr. Benford..." he trailed off. The man's comment made Quatre practically speechless. Quatre thought that life was very important, just being able to live was a good thing. Whether you were born early, late, or in a test tube..."A fool and his money are soon departed." Quatre quoted the famous line. He thought it fit quite well here...it fit well with Mr. Benford.   
  
"You believe that?" Mr. Benford asked.  
  
"I live by it," Quatre replied. Then he turned and left the room, walked down the hall, and back to his office. Leaving Mr. Benford alone and confused.  
  
  
  
The end of Chapter 2! I should have this thing finished by the end of the month! Oh, yay! How's it comin'? Could ya review? Please? I'd much appreciate it. Thanks!  
  



	3. Chapter 3

  
  
  
Running the Place  
Chapter 3  
By BakaDaz  
  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing. I don't...do I hafta say it? Man...I don't own Quatre, in real life, can't stop my dreams though...*ahem* Anyways, all these other characters I made up quickly and they belong to me, *eck* Except Mr. Benford, I don't like him you can have him! ;)  
  
  
  
i9:15, the next day/i  
  
Mr. Benford had been looking around for Quatre. He hadn't seen him at breakfast because he had gotten there late. He had gotten there late because he had had a fight with that maid Meg about cleaning his room again. Mr. Benford looked into the small living room, to not find him there. So, he went up a staircase. He wondered if Quatre had left and not told him about that, if so, that was not good and he thought that as being (say it with me) very rude.  
  
Three doors down from where Mr. Benford was, poor Cheryl was having a time trying to get the towels on the top shelf of a closet, that she had to take upstairs. She reached for it, standing on her tiptoes, with her fingers stretched out, and she still couldn't reach it. Someone saying, "What are you doing?" startled her.  
  
She looked over to the door where Geoffrey was standing looking at her amusedly as she was trying to reach the top shelf. Cheryl glared at him for smirking at her like that, thinking this was funny. "Geoffrey, I need help. Can't reach the top shelf."  
  
"So I noticed," he mocked.   
  
"Come on Geoffrey," she whined.   
  
Geoffrey rolled his eyes. "I'm doing this only because you're my favorite cousin," he said as he walked over to her.  
  
As Geoffrey lifted her up by her feet and stood up best he could with her weight, she replied, "I'll try not to remember that I'm the only cousin you have."  
  
"Hey, just hurry up, will ya?"  
  
"Alright," she growled. "Don't rush me." She reached over for the towels in the back, but could almost but not quite, reach it. "Push me a little," she hissed. Geoffrey pushed her, a little too hard, and she fell into the cupboard.   
  
"Whoops..."  
  
"Ow, I said a little!" she yelled as she reached for a towel nearby. Geoffrey smirked at her. "I can't believe you can fit in there."  
  
"Don't make fun of me because I'm a little shorter than you," she snapped. She dropped a towel down and he caught it, setting it on the pile she already had, except the pile only had 3 towels on it. But, Geoffrey, like Cheryl, was startled at someone's voice coming from the doorway. He turned to see Mr. Benford looking at him oddly.  
  
Geoffrey bit his lip and waved to him. "Uh...hi." Cheryl dropped a towel down, and since Geoffrey wasn't paying attention, it bounced off his head and landed on the ground a little unfolded. He glared up at her and she stifled a giggle.   
  
"It's Mr. barbarian, isn't it?" she whispered. He tried to keep from laughing, but the look on his face showed that.  
  
"What's so funny?" Mr. Benford asked him sternly.   
  
"Nothing," Geoffrey replied. "Really."  
  
Mr. Benford raised a brow. "Do you happen to know where Mr. Winner is?" Then he waited for him to say that he was somewhere else, but he didn't.  
  
"Um...I think he's in a meeting downstairs," he replied.  
  
"Oh, is he?" Mr. Benford asked surprised. "Where?"  
  
"...In the meeting room," Geoffrey replied sarcastically.  
  
"Not too bright, is he?" Cheryl hissed.  
  
Geoffrey grinned.  
  
"What is so funny, now?" Mr. Benford asked.  
  
"Huh? Oh, nothing..."  
  
Mr. Benford straightened his coat and started walking off, down the hall to the stairs so he could go find Quatre. After he left, Cheryl jumped out of the cupboard and started to leave the room, too.  
  
"Cheryl, where do you think you're going?" Geoffrey asked her.   
  
Cheryl turned and looked at him, with a rather angry look. "He better have a good reason for bothering Master Quatre's meeting, and I'm not joking."  
  
Geoffrey pointed around. "What about this?" he asked her.  
  
'Oh yeah...' she thought. After a moment of silence she looked up to him and smiled. "What did you say? You'll take care of it for me? Thanks, cuz!" she yelled as she ran out.  
  
"What?! Hey, come back here!" he yelled after her, but knew it was no use. "How do I get myself into these things?" he mumbled.   
  
Quatre was in his meeting room, which was conveniently on the first floor for visitors. He was in a nice business suit, having a conversation with four other men in the room. One man asked Quatre if he would be attending the meeting next week. Quatre frowned and hoped that Mr. Benford would be gone by then, and said that he'd try. But, it was his duty to attend every meeting he could.   
  
Mr. Benford was listening through the door, which was closed. And ask the meeting came to an end; he hurried over to the wall, and pretended like he was waiting patiently. Which he wasn't.   
  
Cheryl glared at him from a room diagonal from him. She looked surprised as the meeting room door opened, and she hid in the room. Quatre came out, talking to two of the men about the Preventers. He paused when he saw Mr. Benford.   
  
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Winner," the men said as they nodded to him. He nodded back and watched them go, before he turned to Mr. Benford. "Mr. Benford, I suppose you wanted to see me?" Quatre asked him.  
  
Mr. Benford nodded. "Yes, I did. I was wondering..."  
  
"Do you have any gray pupa?" Cheryl mocked in a snobby tone.  
  
"How much do you pay your workers?"  
  
"Huh?" Quatre asked confused.  
  
"Well, they're always giving me a hard time, and I was thinking that maybe it's because they don't get paid enough?"  
  
Quatre couldn't believe that Mr. Benford couldn't tell they were giving him a hard time because he was bossy, snobbish, and they didn't like him. (Keeps Quatre from falling over anime style) "Oh...well...I'll have a talk with them, then," Quatre said, not really sure on how he should have replied.  
  
"Good, good," Mr. Benford replied. "But not too much now, you don't want to spoil them."   
  
Cheryl glared and reached for the nearest thing by her, which happened to be a broom. "'Don't spoil them'? You're the only one in this household that's spoiled," she muttered. Holding onto the broomstick so she didn't do anything stupid.  
  
Quatre looked up when he saw his secretary coming down the hall. She had a mixed look on her face. "What's wrong, Donna?"   
  
Donna reached Quatre and whispered something in his ear. "Really?" he asked her. She nodded. He grinned.  
  
"What's going on? It's very rude to whisper in public," Mr. Benford growled.  
  
"I've...got to go, Mr. Benford," Quatre told him, and ran off. Mr. Benford raised a brow as he left, wondering where he was going. He looked over toward the secretary, but she merely looked back at him and silently walked off.  
  
Quatre came into his office and looked around. No doubt, the man standing by his desk with his arms crossed, looking rather calm and patient was a friend of his. "Rashid," Quatre said happily as he came through the door. He hadn't seen his friend in a month or two.   
  
"Master Quatre," Rashid replied in his deep voice. "You were right about the earth. I'm sorry."  
  
Quatre frowned. "No, Rashid, don't be. I guess someone like me, born in outer space a secondary area from earth and had gone down to earth in a time of crisis would see it much different."  
  
"Master Quatre. You know I have a sense of pride and it's very difficult for me to have said that."  
  
"I know, Rashid, thanks."  
  
"For what?" Rashid's arms fell to their sides, and he looked at him for a moment as Quatre sighed and fixed his collar on his business suit.  
  
"The earth should be a place for peace, as should the colonies. And even though this is my home, I feel that the earth should go first. That's why Miss Relena has such a big impact on people."  
  
Rashid nodded in agreement.   
  
Quatre walked over and looked out his window, sighing. He started to go into a world of thought, when a knock at the door interrupted him. (Take a guess at who it is...)  
  
"Mr. Winner," Mr. Benford's voice could be heard through his thinking. Quatre turned around and looked at him.   
  
"Mr. Benford?"  
  
Mr. Benford walked through the door, giving Rashid a look and turning back to Quatre. "Mr. Winner, you did not excuse yourself, you know."  
  
"I'm sorry," Quatre mumbled. He should have remembered that too.  
  
"That's quite alright. I'm just here to say that I am going to use that television again, so that is where I will be."  
  
Quatre nodded. "Yes."   
  
"If you need me," Mr. Benford added.  
  
"Oh, yes," Quatre said. 'Emphasize on the word "if",' he thought.  
  
Mr. Benford nodded to him as he left the room, giving Rashid another glance. As soon as he left Quatre sighed.  
  
"Who's that?"  
  
Quatre turned back to Rashid. "Someone who is staying with us. Sadly he looks down on other people and is the greatest person to be around."  
  
"Why is he here?"  
  
Quatre shrugged. "He was originally staying here just because he was passing through and didn't want to stay at a hotel. But now, he's been staying for quite a while..."  
  
"Hm…"  
  
There was a moment of silence for a moment before Quatre went over and slid into his chair. He pulled a paper out of his desk, grabbed a pen, and wrote something down. Rashid raised an eyebrow and looked at him for a bit. Then Quatre held the paper out to him. Rashid walked over and took the paper, skimming through it with his eyes.  
  
"Master Quatre?"  
  
"You wouldn't be able to do this for me will you, Rashid? I don't think I'll be able to make it to that meeting." Quatre frowned at what he was saying. But he knew he couldn't just kick Mr. Benford out. But he was too afraid to leave Mr. Benford here along with everyone else, in fear there'd be nothing left when Quatre got back. Besides, it would be impolite to do that.  
  
"Yes, Master Quatre. I'll get to work on this now." Rashid went to the door and nodded to him. "Open or closed?"  
  
"Open, please? I need the air to circulate in here." Quatre replied. Rashid nodded again and left the room.  
  
Quatre ran his fingers through his hair (Oooo, I wanna do that) and went back to thinking. There had to be a way to get Mr. Benford out of his house and back to where he came from, before he hurts someone or someone tries to hurt him. He chuckled at the thought of all the maids chasing Mr. Benford out of the house with buckets and brooms and kitchen pots. Most likely someone would try to hurt him first.  
  
"Master Quatre," someone hissed from the door. Quatre looked up and saw a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes looking at him. "Master Quatre, can I talk to you?"   
  
It was Tasha. "Yeah, sure, come in…" Quatre pointed to the chair in front of his desk. Tasha came in and sat down in it. She looked at him for a moment. Her eyes like daggers, even if she tried not to show it, he could feel it and see the anger in her eyes.  
  
"If that man says something about my cooking like he did this morning..." she says in a somewhat warning tone. "Master Quatre, you've got to do something about him."  
  
"What am I supposed to do?" Quatre asked her, as if she had the answer. She didn't. Because all she did was shrug.  
  
"Uh...Master Quatre," came another voice from the doorway.  
  
Tasha turned around in her seat to see who was at the door. It was Cheryl. Quatre looked up to her. "Yes?"  
  
"I agree with Tasha. I have no patience left with that guy. He's crazy." Cheryl came into the room as she spoke and stopped next to Tasha's chair, leaning onto the table.   
  
"Cheryl, do you have any ideas for getting rid of him..."  
  
"Kick him out!"  
  
"...properly."  
  
"You mean we can't kick him out?" she asked sadly. "But, Master Quatre!"  
  
"What am I supposed to say? 'You get on our nerves could you kindly leave'?" His answer was two grins from Cheryl and Tasha. "No. I'm not going to do that."  
  
Well, it seemed like more than Cheryl had been eavesdropping, because they all started popping into the room, agreeing with what the other two were saying. It started to get so loud, even in Quatre's rather large office; Quatre put his hands up and asked them all to calm down.  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"Run him out!" Meg cried.  
  
"Run him out?" Quatre asked her.  
  
"Yeah, like, don't do anything he says and make him want to leave."  
  
"And tell him to do things for us?" Cheryl asked cheerfully. She wanted to leave her coat on the 1st floor and have him climb up and down a couple floors to go get it. She grinned evilly at the idea.  
  
"Yeah!" Meg said happily. Everyone in the room started talking about it.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Quatre said. "You mean you want to teach him a lesson? Is that what you're getting at?" The girls all nodded and answered him with 'yes' and 'oh yeah'. Quatre looked over to Geoffrey who nodded at him, thinking it sounded like a marvelous idea.  
  
Quatre sighed and thought about it. They could do that...couldn't they? And they could even get help from people who specialized in that sort of stuff. Slowly, but surely, a smile appeared on Quatre's face. Everyone saw it and got quiet. Last time Quatre got a look like that, everyone had to take showers to get paint out of their hair.   
  
"Donna," Quatre said looking through the girls to find his secretary. Donna pushed pass some of the girls and went up to him. "Donna, could you get some of my friends on the line?"  
  
"Some of your friends, Master Quatre?" she asked him. He had a smile on his face that gave her the answer to her question she was going to ask. "Ohh..." she said understandingly. She smiled back. "You bet, Master Quatre."   
  
Quatre patter her on the shoulder. "Thank you, Donna. Tomorrow, alright?"  
  
"Okay," she said, now quite cheerful. She pushed pass all the people again.   
  
"Everyone," Quatre said, getting everyone's attention again. "Tomorrow, you can work less. But just for tomorrow. And don't start this until my friends get here and I ask you to." Everyone nodded and cheered Quatre on for being so brave. They all started scrambling out of the office discussing tomorrow. Quatre sighed as they all left. 'I hope I don't get a heavy conscience tomorrow,' he thought as they all left.  
  
Yay! The end of chapter 3! I can tell that this story is going to be 5 chapters long. Can you guess which 4 guys are going to be in the next chapter? ...Um, if you said Goku, Gohan, Trunks and Vegeta...then you're wrong. If you said Duo, Heero, Trowa and Wu-man...then you are right! Good job, you've been paying attention.  
  
P.S. I know this chapter wasn't very good, I wanted to get to the next chapter. I already know what I'm going to put, so watch for it soon!  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

  
  
Running the Place  
Chapter 4  
BakaDaz  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, Heero, Trowa, Wufei...Duo or...Quatre. Or anyone else that might make an appearance in this story.  
  
  
7:25 a.m. the next day...  
  
Quatre came back from his morning walk, tired, thirsty, and out of breathe. When he got rather close to the porch of the front of the home, he smiled. Several cats were lounging around on it, some of them meowing. Somehow they'd gotten through his gate or over a wall, but of course, for a cat that was probably easy.  
  
Quatre slowly approached the animals, two of them running off in fear. Quatre stopped and cooed them back, but they didn't come. So, instead he went over and petted the black cat. It purred with enjoyment. Quatre reached his other hand out to a calico, and petted that one.  
  
Soon, the other two cats, a white one and a gray, came back and rubbed against his leg, wanting him to pet them too.  
  
Quatre laughed at their antics. "I bet you're hungry, huh?" he asked as he rubbed under the gray one's chin. "Well...I'll go get some milk if you promise not to spit it out." His answer were high-pitched 'meow's from the four cats. He smiled and shook his head. "Alright..." He pushed the door open, and closed it behind him.  
  
He would have loved to have cats in the house, but there wasn't any room for them. At least that's what his father told him when he was 5. He had wanted a cat, a dog and a bird. What did he get for his belated birthday? A fish. And it was only one too. Mr. Winner had then explained to Quatre about animals needing lots of attention and how you couldn't work and do that at the same time.   
  
Quatre came back out, quickly, with a little bowl of milk. He smiled and set it down for them to drink out of. All the cats gathered around it and started to lick it all up. Quatre smiled, bent down and watched them.   
  
But this didn't last long, because soon a very loud voice asked, "What are you doing?"  
  
Quatre sighed as the cats ran away. He stood up and looked at the owner of the voice. Mr. Benford was looking at him in narrow eyes and his arms were crossed. "What time do you get up in the morning, boy?"  
  
Quatre looked up to one last retreating cat, climbing in-between the bars of the gate. 'Please, Mr. Benford. It's not even 8:00 yet, and you're already...' Quatre looked over toward him again. "Oh, I don't know...early." He nodded, to accompany his answer. Mr. Benford nodded back; obviously he wasn't going to tell him how early.  
  
"So...Mr. Benford, did you have your breakfast yet?" Quatre asked as he closed the door in front of them. He turned to Mr. Benford who was looking at him strangely.   
  
"No, I'm not! Do you want to know why?"  
  
*Flashback to 10 minutes ago*  
  
Mr. Benford came downstairs, not running into that maid that morning, and went directly to the dinning hall. He sat at the table and waited...and waited...and waited. He grew very impatient, until he saw the cook and Tasha come out. He stood up. "Excuse me, can I get some food around here, please?"  
  
Cook and Tasha turned around to look at him. Then they looked at each other. Cook just went right on going, leaving the room.   
  
"Excuse me!" Mr. Benford said very loud. "I'm hungry, how am I going to eat?"  
  
"...Cook it yourself," Tasha replied, before she left the room.  
  
"What?! Wait a moment! Get back here!"  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Quatre looked at him surprised when he told him that story. They were now sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee. Mr. Benford took a drink of his coffee, and then put it down, looking at Quatre. "What do you think?"  
  
"Oh..." Quatre replied. "I think I'll...talk to them?"  
  
"I think you should fire them!"  
  
Quatre let out a weak laugh. He sure hoped this was going to work...  
  
3:37 p.m. that same day....  
  
Cheryl had been walking by the front door when she heard it knock. She groaned and walked over to it. "Please don't be like this guy here now..." she whispered as she put her hand on the doorknob and turned. She turned and pulled, but it didn't open. She pulled harder. It was almost like some great force was pulling on the other side. Then, as if the great force let go, the door finally opened and she fell down onto her back.  
  
When she opened her eyes, she saw someone standing over her, a big grin on the person's face.   
  
"Hey babe! Thanks for opening the door for me!"  
  
Cheryl sat up. "Oh...it's you. I should have known, who else would pull on the door when I'm trying to open it?"  
  
The familiar Duo Maxwell chuckled at her. "I got a call, and I'm here! So where's Quatre? Where's Heero? Where's everyone?"  
  
"You're the first one here," she replied as she picked herself up. When she looked back at him, his eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping open.  
  
"You're kiddin'. I'm the first one here? There goes my rep. of being 'late than never'!" He kicked his foot back, hitting the door so it closed.   
  
Cheryl sighed. "Master Quatre said to wait for him in the large living room."  
  
Duo grinned. "Alright!" Then he pulled his arm out in fron of him and pulled his sleeve away revealing a watch. "Ok...when's food gonna be made?"  
  
Cheryl thought for a moment. "I don't know... 4 o'clock?"  
  
Duo grinned wider and set his timer for 4. "Thanks," he said as he walked off, waving to her.  
  
Mr. Benford went into the small living room to watch the television. When he got in, he noticed a lump on the couch. He took a couple steps forward to see a girl lying on the couch, asleep.  
  
Mr. Benford cleared his throat. "Excuse me." The girls didn't wake up. "Excuse me, young lady!" he shouted, and this time she woke up.  
  
The girl opened her eyes, groggily. She noticed Mr. Benford standing above her. She sat up and looked at him. "Who are you?" she asked. Then she yawned and stretched.  
  
"Who am I?" Mr. Benford asked surprised. "What kind of a question is that? I want to know who you are, you don't look familiar!"  
  
The girl smiled and scratched her red hair. "You must be Mr. Benford. I'm Claire."  
  
"Why are you here?" he demanded. He was sure she didn't look familiar.  
  
"I've been sleeping," she answered. She dropped her feet over the side of the couch and tried to get up. It wasn't working very well. So, she put her hand on her stomache, as if to hold it up, and slowly got to her feet. But then, she let out a hiss of pain and slid back onto the couch, sighing.  
  
Mr. Benford looked at her in surprise. "You're...you're pregnant!"   
  
She looked up at him and nodded. "I hope it'll be a girl," she responded cheerfully.  
  
"Why did you sleep here instead of at your house...with your husband?"  
  
Claire closed one of her eyes, wincing in pain. "I don't have a husband."  
  
"You don't have a...--" Mr. Benford shook his head. "I'm using the television in the larger living room." Then he turned and left. As he left, a smirk appeared on Claire's face.  
  
Alas, when he got to the large living room, that television was being used as well. He frowned at the sight of two people beating eachother up, 'blood' coming out of them every so often. At then, when one person got knocked down, the person on the screen did something like a victory dance. But, when it happened, the person sitting in front of the television on the chair stood up and put their arms in the air.  
  
"Oh, yeah! I rock! You loose! Sucker!" Then the person did their own version of a victory dance.  
  
Mr. Benford decided to take a guess..."Excuse me, Miss."  
  
The person in front of the television stopped. "I sure hope you're joking, I'm not a 'Miss'." Duo turned around glaring at Mr. Benford.  
  
"Oh, I saw your hair and wasn't sure with your voice."  
  
"Hm, well, if you'll excuse me, I have to fight the next guy!" and Duo turned back around, his braid flying up as he did so, and he collapsed onto the chair. Then, a couple seconds later, started hitting the buttons like crazy.   
  
Mr. Benford walked over and watched him, his arms crossed. After a few moments when Duo didn't notice him, Mr. Benford walked in front of him. Duo then paused the game he was playing. "Excuse you, you're in my way," Duo told him.  
  
"Do you work here?" Mr. Benford asked, annoyance in his voice.  
  
"Nope, now move."  
  
"Why are you here, then?"  
  
"I'm playing a video game, duh!"  
  
Mr. Benford's eyes narrowed. "I mean why are you in this building." He looked Duo up and down. With a black shirt, that was covered by a lighter black jacket, and the boy was even wearing black jeans! Surely not someone of any wealth...   
  
"I came to visit my good buddy, now you're still standing in my way. I'd move if I were you."   
  
"Your good buddy?" Mr. Benford asked curiously. Suddenly, a beeping noise interrupted him.   
  
Duo grinned. He pushed his sleeve back and stopped his watch. "It's 4o'clock!" he got up and looked at him. "I'll be right back...but you can go away." Then, he ran out of the room. But Mr. Benford didn't have enough time to come back, because a minute later, Duo was back with three brownies layered on a napkin, and was eating one.  
  
Duo gave him a glance, and with food in his mouth said, "You haven't left yet, huh?" But he didn't mind, because he was away from the television now. So, he collapsed back onto the chair, setting the napkin with brownies on it down on a table near him, and started playing the game again.  
  
Mr. Benford looked at him angrily, but then that was cut short. For a boy with untamed brown hair, tense blue eyes, and… a laptop walked pass him. He glanced over to Duo who greeted him with a smile and a, "Hey Heero!" The boy replied with a grunt.   
  
Duo pointed to the brownies next to him. "Want one?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good, more for me."  
  
Duo paused the game so Heero could walk by, and as soon as he was pass then he started playing again. Heero sat his laptop down on a table near a wall, sat in the chair in front of it, and started working on it.  
  
'Did he just ignore me?' Mr. Benford thought. 'It was like I wasn't even here...'  
  
He turned away trying to hold in his anger, when he was surprised again by a boy, with his brown hair over one of his eyes, sitting at the table near him reading a book. He let out a sound, but it was like he didn't hear it. Why weren't these people paying attention to him?  
  
Outside the door, which was slightly open, Quatre and Wufei were peaking in through the crack of the door.   
  
"Thanks for coming, Wufei," Quatre said in a low voice, so as he wouldn't be heard.  
  
"Yeah," Wufei replied, just slightly louder than him. "Now, you're going to tell that Une woman it was all your fault I wasn't at work, right?"  
  
Quatre smiled. "Yes Wufei."  
  
"So, why haven't you kicked the weakling out yet?" Wufei asked turning to him. He saw Quatre's shoulders go up and down as he let out a sigh that said 'Do I really have to explain it?' Of course, knowing how kind and polite Quatre was he didn't really have to explain.  
  
"It's just...I couldn't kick someone out. Could you..."  
  
Wufei got the drift. He pushed the door open and walked in.  
  
Mr. Benford crossed his arms and looked at all three boys in the room. But, he was surprised yet again by another boy who gave him a glance as he walked by. He walked over to the couch, which was right next to the chair, and sat on it 'Indian style' (you know, with you're legs crossed and stuff.)  
  
Duo held up his last brownie. When he'd offered one to the other two, and they had declined, he'd eaten the brownies. "Wanna brownie, Wufei?" Wufei shook his head in response, and closed his eyes to meditate. Duo shrugged and ate the last one.  
  
Mr. Benford felt like he was being ignored. He didn't like that. He was just about to start yelling about that, when Quatre decided it was a good time to come in.  
  
Quatre opened the door and came in. He cleared his throat. "Um, so... Mr. Benford, you've met my friends?"   
  
Mr. Benford looked over at Quatre and then back at the other four in the room. "No, I can't say that I have," he replied.  
  
"Oh," Quatre said, "Well then..." He started off from closest to farthest. "That's Trowa..."  
  
Trowa pulled the book he was reading down so that he could see Mr. Benford, and then without even acknowledging he was there, he lifted it back up to read again.  
  
"That's Wufei..."  
  
Wufei opened one eye to see Mr. Benford, and then he closed it, and went back to meditating.   
  
"That's Duo..."  
  
"Yo!" Duo called from his chair, and then he turned back to the video game.  
  
"And that over there is Heero."  
  
Heero gave a low, "Hn," and no one was sure if that was to Mr. Benford or just a random one.  
  
"He's anti-social," Duo hissed to him.   
  
Mr. Benford blinked confusedly for a moment. So there were four boys in the room, one actually said something to him and it wasn't even proper? This was uncalled for! He turned to Quatre. "Are these really your friends...or do they work for you?"  
  
"Hm," Wufei opened both of his eyes this time and looked directly at Mr. Benford. "I work for The Preventers."  
  
Mr. Benford looked shocked. He looked Wufei over. "You're joking..."  
  
"I do too, sometimes," Duo put in. "But usually I just work at the Sweepers..."  
  
Mr. Benford wasn't sure what to say to this. He turned to the boy reading at the table next to him. He didn't answer him. It was like he was in his own world, not paying attention.  
  
"Uh, to get to the point Mr. Benford...they don't work for me. They're some of my closest friends."  
  
Mr. Benford looked around again. These were his friends? Maybe while he was busy teaching Quatre how to run the house, he should also tell him how to get some classy friends...  
  
Quatre sat down at the table while Mr. Benford looked around. "Hey Trowa," he whispered. "What are you reading?"  
  
Trowa looked up from his book. "I don't know," he whispered back. "I couldn't think of a good way to ignore him, so I grabbed a book out of the library on my way in…"  
  
"Oh," Quatre replied.  
  
Mr. Benford turned, and was about to say something, so Quatre immediately stood up. "These are those...low class people you were talking about, hm?"  
  
Quatre sighed. "If you want to call them that."  
  
Duo heard that comment and looked over to him. "So...what's your name again? Ben?"  
  
Mr. Benford looked over toward Duo. "Ben?! I beg your pardon! It's Benford."  
  
"Okay, sorry about that Ben Ford..."  
  
"It's Benford, one word. Mr. Benford to you."  
  
Duo glanced over to him. "Sure," he said as he got up to go shut his video game off. "Whatever you say Mr. B..."  
  
"Mr. B? How rude. You shall call me Mr. Benford."  
  
Duo wrapped the cord around the remote. "Why?"  
  
"Why? Because it is the polite thing to do!"  
  
"So...you're not being polite," Duo said as he put the remote controller away. (can you tell Duo's my 2nd favorite yet?)  
  
Mr. Benford opened his mouth to say something...but nothing came out. He couldn't think of anything to say to that. Trowa got up and closed his book, shaking his head.   
  
Wufei got up off the couch, and as he left the room he commented to Mr. Benford, "At least he doesn't call you 'Wu-man'."   
  
Duo gave Mr. Benford a look as he walked pass him to leave, also, Trowa behind them. Mr. Benford wanted to pursue the joker of the group, but first he stalked over to Heero.  
  
"I say boy, who taught you your manners? You didn't even look at me when introduced."  
  
Heero glanced at him. Even his glance was as deadly as his glare. Mr. Benford got a bit intimidated by this, but he was a wealthy man, and this was just a poor boy. So he had no reason to be intimidated by him.   
  
To his surprised, Heero turned around in his chair to look at him. He lifted his right arm up and closed the laptop. But, nothing new to Quatre or anyone who knew Heero, he didn't say anything, and he got off his chair and walked out of the room, like the other four.  
  
Quatre gave a pathetic laugh. "Well...just hope you don't run into them anymore today, I suppose..."  
  
"Mr. Winner," Mr. Benford said. "You need to tame them!"  
  
"Tame them? That sounds like something you do with animals Mr. Benford..."  
  
"I know that! No one is rude to a person of high class! Especially poor ones who wear tasteless clothing and work at the Sweepers group!"  
  
Quatre felt his patience get cut short. "Excuse me, Mr. Benford, but you're talking about one of my friends!" Quatre glared at him. "And that's not a very nice thing to do!" He began to storm out of the room, but when he got to the door, he turned to him. "And I don't *tame people*! It's inhumane!" And to follow him, he slammed the door after he left.  
  
Mr. Benford looked at the door for a moment. "I think he lost his patience with one of those boys and took it out on me..." (disgusting, isn't it?)  
  
A bit later...  
  
"G4."  
  
Wufei glared and stood up. "Where's your sense of justice, Maxwell?!"  
  
Duo looked up at him. "Hm?"  
  
"You cheat!"  
  
"I'm not cheating," Duo insisted. "Calm down Wu-man, oh and also...G4."  
  
Wufei glared at him for a moment before he sank down into his seat. "You sunk my carrier," he mumbled.  
  
Duo chuckled evilly. "I know," he said as he put his last red peg up on top of his game. He peered over the side of it at Wufei who was looking really mad about losing. "Aw...don't be sore loser, Wu," Duo said.  
  
Wufei looked at him. "I can't believe I sunk your little one... and that's it!"  
  
"Aw come on, Wu-man. One's better than none, and it's only a game."  
  
"Yeah, but how many losers say that?" Wufei growled.  
  
"I'll make it up to ya, Wu-man...ya want to play pick up sticks?"  
  
"No! That's a kid's game."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
Just then, Mr. Benford entered the scene. "Oh, it's you," he said when he noticed Duo's braid.  
  
"Yep, it's me!" Duo said happily, not really knowing what Mr. Benford meant.  
  
"I thought about what you said..." Mr. Benford said.  
  
"Hm," Wufei mumbled as he started putting his ships away.  
  
"...and now I know that the reason you need to be polite to me is that I am of higher class than you and so you automatically have to look up to me."  
  
Duo raised a brow. "Uh huh...well. If I say I'm the king of... Shinigamia...will you look up to me?"  
  
Wufei stopped what he was doing. "Shinigamia?"  
  
"No!"  
  
Duo frowned. "Why not?"  
  
"Because you are no king of...whatever you just said. You are a poor person who does nothing more than collect junk."  
  
Duo glared. "And you're a rich dude that does nothing more than criticize people."  
  
"Yes, what makes you so high and mighty?" Wufei asked, now suddenly getting into this.  
  
Duo leaned over to Wufei and whispered, "Here, put the game away. I wanna bug him some more." Duo gave him an evil smile as he got up and walked over to Mr. Benford. "C'mon, Mr. B," he said. "Let's go talk, hm?"  
  
Mr. Benford gave him a look. "Oh, yes indeed...let's talk. To the kitchen."  
  
"You know that's one of my favorite places?" Duo asked him as he led him out.  
  
When they left, Wufei got an afterthought. Was Duo really going to go bug Mr. Benford, or did he just leave Wufei to put the game away. He decided on the second one and cursed Duo under his breath.  
  
"So, Ben..."  
  
"Benford."  
  
"Right...Mr. B. Are we going to eat somethin'? Is that why we're in here?"  
  
"Not necessarily."  
  
Duo and Mr. Benford just entered the dining room, which was linked, to the kitchen. Mr. Benford walked over to the dining table, well surprised to see Trowa sitting there reading that same book. He must have gotten into it.  
  
Mr. Benford ignored Trowa and sat down. "You, boy with a braid. You were rude and you owe me...I'm famished, cook me something." (sorta just made his own death wish, didn't he?)  
  
Trowa closed his book and gave Mr. Benford a look like he was crazy.  
  
"Huh...?" Duo was a bit baffled.  
  
Mr. Benford pointed to the kitchen door. "Cook. Now. Hurry up."  
  
Duo glared. "Alright..." Duo marched into the kitchen and Trowa followed him.  
  
"Duo," Trowa said calmly. "What are you doing?"  
  
Duo pulled out a cookbook and flipped through it. "I'm gonna fix him somethin'." Duo said slyly. He stopped at a page.  
  
"Duo...you can't cook," Trowa said.  
  
"Broccoli casserole...sounds disgusting. I'll make it!"  
  
"You don't really even have to cook it all the way..."  
  
"Why do you insist on being mean about my cooking?"  
  
"I'm just informing you...he'll probably get charcoal either way."  
  
"Hm…" Duo said as he searched through the cupboard. "I wonder if Quatre has any poison..."  
  
"Quatre have poison?"  
  
"You're right...maybe I can get some from Heero."  
  
Trowa sighed and left the kitchen. He grabbed his book as he walked by the table in the dining room, giving Mr. Benford a glance. He walked over to the door, but he didn't have to open it. It opened for him. That was because Heero came in. They gave each other nods as they walked pass one another.  
  
Heero walked over to the table Mr. Benford was at.  
  
"Oh, you're here," Heero said in his monotonous voice.   
  
Mr. Benford cleared his throat. "I'm waited for that boy with a braid to fix my food."  
  
Heero gave him a look. "You're making Duo cook for you?"  
  
Mr. Benford nodded his head. "Yes, and if you knew any better you'd do that also. Maybe I'll make you shine my shoes, too..."  
  
Heero ignored his last two comments and just relied on the 'yes'. He calmly walked into the kitchen, not looking around. He walked right over to a wall and grabbed the fire extinguisher off of it. Then, he calmly walked over to Duo. At that exact moment, the bowl Duo was cooking his Broccoli Casserole in (or what he called Broccoli Casserole...) caught on fire by the fire on the stove. He jumped back in surprise, and at that moment, Heero blew the fire out using that red thing in his hand.  
  
"Quatre's really letting you cook in his kitchen again?" Heero asked surprised, remembering the last time Duo cooked in the kitchen.  
  
Duo shrugged. "Mr. B wanted some food...hey, by the way...you don't have any poison do you?"  
  
Heero looked into the bowl. "Well, if he eats that he probably won't live long."   
  
"Ohh," Duo said looking into the bowl. "Thanks for the encouragement Heero ole buddy."   
  
It was like Trowa had said...the food was pretty charcoaled. Okay, it was burnt to a crisp...what did Duo care? He picked it up and started carrying it out of the kitchen. Heero smirked and followed him. "Tell Quatre to get a camera," Duo hissed as he pushed the swinging door open. "This'll be a kodak moment." Heero followed him out, but he didn't go over to the table. Instead, he just stood by the door.  
  
Duo carried the bowl over to Mr. Benford and sat it down. "Here ya go, Mr. B..." he reached into his pocket. "And here's a spoon."  
  
Mr. Benford looked inside of the bowl and made a disgusted face. He looked over toward Duo. "What is this?"  
  
'You should ask, 'what was it?' Heero thought.  
  
"It's...broccoli casserole. Um...yum?"  
  
"It's repulsive! It's all black and burnt!"  
  
"Hey, there Mr. B...I never said I was the best cook in the world."  
  
"Why is it that a poor boy who looks like a girl cannot cook like one?"  
  
Duo looked at him in surprise. "Are you saying I'm a girl?"   
  
"I'm saying you look like one."  
  
"Okay, that's it!" Duo put his fists up. "C'mon snobby, let's go..."  
  
Heero sighed and walked over to him. He started pushing Duo toward the door. "Let's go Duo," he whispered. "We're not supposed to kill the man, we're supposed to run him out."  
  
"And you, boy. First of all you need to learn your manners, then you need a nice haircut. And also, you need to buy some clothes, what is that shirt you are wearing?"  
  
Heero paused and looked over at him and glared. He got a weird look in his eyes, and Duo noticed this. "Uh...Heero," he whispered.   
  
Heero ignored him. He let go of Duo and turned toward Mr. Benford. After a moment of just glaring at him, he pulled a gun out. "Aw, screw it!" He aimed his gun at Mr. Benford and was ready to shoot. It took a second, but he realized it was a real gun and got out of his chair.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
All three guys turned toward the door. There at the door, in worn out pants and a ragged shirt, stood Cheryl looking into the room.   
  
"Oh," she said suddenly. "You're going to shoot him? All right then." she turned to leave.  
  
"Maid! Don't leave like that! Who do you think you are?!"  
  
Cheryl stopped and turned. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry...are you talking to me? I don't think so...because my name is Cheryl."  
  
"...Why don't you make yourself useful?" Mr. Benford growled.  
  
Cheryl gave him a look. She walked over to Heero. "Hey, um," she whispered. "Master Heero...could you put the gun away? You can shoot him later, I just want to be cruel to him for a bit..."  
  
Heero thought for a minute. "Hn," he said. He put his gun back...to wherever he got it from. He turned around and walked to the door, leaving. Duo blinked and tried to decide whether to go or stay. His curiosity got the better of him, and he leaned back by the door.  
  
"Mr. Benford," Cheryl said. "As you can see, I just saved your life." She turned to Duo and pointed out the door. Duo blinked and pushed the door open a bit, peered out and grinned. He glanced over to Cheryl who nodded. Duo grabbed something that the wall was hiding, but then he pushed it into the room.  
  
It was a mop, broom, bucket, duster, everything else cleaner all in one, and it was on wheels. "You owe me, don't you think?" Cheryl asked.   
  
"No! Mr. Benford yelled. "I don't think!"  
  
Duo smirked. Mr. Benford noticed this.  
  
"I mean I don't think that I owe you!"  
  
"Okay...I'll just go get that guy with a gun then..."  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Clean for me?"  
  
"NO! Out! OUT! Get out!"  
  
"Just think about it..." Cheryl said, but Mr. Benford didn't want to think about it.   
  
Mr. Benford grabbed the bowl that was once broccoli casserole, and threw it towards her, she ducked and it bounced off the wall.  
  
Duo sniffed in a fake way, "My dinner..."  
  
"Get out!" Mr. Benford growled.   
  
"Okay..." Cheryl said.  
  
Duo pushed the door open, letting Cheryl leave. He followed. "Another kodak moment," Duo said proudly.  
  
Cheryl sighed. "Well, you all can be as hard as you want on him." She turned and walked toward the steps.  
  
"Oh, okay!" he called as she walked.  
  
"Hm," Wufei snorted as Duo told him and Trowa about how Mr. Benford had thrown his beloved broccoli casserole. Trowa had noticed how Duo didn't say that the contents in the bowl spilled onto the floor, but didn't say anything. Heero was still mumbling about shooting the guy.  
  
"I think you should try to bug him next, Trowa!" Duo said cheerfully.  
  
Trowa gave him a look.  
  
"The only way he'll pester that man is not talking to him," Wufei said. "I'll do it."  
  
"No," Heero said. "There's nothing to stop you from killing him."  
  
Wufei sighed.   
  
"Hey, I just noticed...has anyone seen Quatre? I haven't seen him since we left that living room..."  
  
"I haven't either," Trowa said surprised.  
  
"He must be working, he's a busy person you know." Wufei said as if it were common sense.  
  
"Aw, he shouldn't work when we're gettin' this guy peeved!" Duo whined. Suddenly he looked at his watch. "Speaking of which...I should go see if that one chick did laundry yet, I wanna mix his whites with coloreds..." he jumped off of his chair and ran off.  
  
"That master of pranks does it again," Trowa said as he read his book.  
  
"Why can't we kill the weakling, again?" Wufei asked.  
  
"A number of reason," Heero said as he pulled his laptop out. "First of all, the world and colonies are trying to become peaceful...you know that, I'm sure. Plus, we'd get in trouble by many people."  
  
"Eh," Wufei replied. "Say, I'm hungry. Anyone care for any food?"  
  
"Food? In front of Mr. Benford so we can get him even more angry?" Heero asked curiously.  
  
Wufei nodded. "Exactly."  
  
"Actually, that's a pretty good idea..." Trowa said.  
  
"First I'm ignored, then I'm mocked, then I starve, what is wrong with these people?" Mr. Benford growled as he walked through the mansion. He seemed to like to do this, perhaps he thought of it as bored... who really knows? Suddenly he heard something in the dining room. Quickly he went over and opened the door. Inside were Wufei, Trowa, and Heero... practically feasting!  
  
Mr. Benford stared at the food in amazement. How was it whenever he was in there, there was no food, but when anyone else was... there seemed to be some? Well he didn't know and he didn't care, but he did know he was hungry and was going to eat. So in he walked.  
  
"Alright, I want to know which one of you people cooked this, and I want to know now!"  
  
Wufei looked up toward him. "Don't talk to me in that manner."  
  
"What?!" Mr. Benford yelled.  
  
Trowa glanced at him. "Yes, show some respect."  
  
"Excuse me?!" Mr. Benford growled.  
  
"We're trying to eat, you're pestering us," Heero growled and went back to eating the stack upon stack of waffles in front of him.  
  
"Excuse me, boy, but I'll have you know I can bother you if I please!"  
  
"Excuse me," Wufei growled. "We have names, honor that."  
  
"Well so do I! And it's not Mr. B, or Ben, or Ben Ford. It's not Snobby. And you should honor THAT."  
  
Trowa raised an eyebrow and went back to eating his oatmeal.  
  
"This is getting ridiculous," Mr. Benford mumbled. "I'm going to complain about this."  
  
"Boo-hoo, Quatre they're being mean."  
  
Mr. Benford turned around. "Who said that?!"  
  
The other three stayed quiet, but every once in awhile would smirk and glance over to him.  
  
Mr. Benford started to turn red with anger. "That's it!" He stormed out of the dining room, down the hall, up the many stairs, and into his room. There, in his room, was a bunch of his finest white shirts...no longer white. They were light green, a bit blue, and some were tie-dyed, but none were white.   
  
"What happened to me clothes!"  
  
Duo poked his head in the room. "Oh, yeah man...those people..."  
  
"...mixed the whites with the colors," Mr. Benford finished his sentence. He picked up a shirt. "Look at this."  
  
Duo shrugged. "Sorry man."  
  
"I am not man."  
  
"Oh, you're woman, then?"  
  
"Boy, go away or I'll chop off your braid!"  
  
Duo smiled. "Sorry man, but when a peeved Chinese guy tells ya he'll cut it off with a nice big sword he has, there's just not much more you can do after that..."  
  
"Will you leave me alone!?" Mr. Benford yelled at him.  
  
Duo pretended to be sad. "Aw gee, Mr. B. I never had a chance to be your friend either."  
  
"GOOD! Now GO!"  
  
Duo glared at him and walked away.  
  
Mr. Benford shook his head and looked back at his clothes.  
  
A while later Quatre was in the dining room with the other four guys, waiting for Mr. Benford. He had said he wanted to talk to all five of them. Quatre guessed it had something to do with how the other four had been treating them. He knew if anyone could be good at getting even, it would be Trowa, Duo, Wufei, and Heero.   
  
Mr. Benford soon did come in. He came in with a suitcase. He glanced around at everyone and sat it down. "Alright, I don't know what all of this was about... but it ran along the lines of starving me half to death. I have never been with more rude, senseless, idiotic, low-classed people in my lifetime."   
  
He nodded his head toward Quatre. "Mr. Winner, I don't understand why you are so kind to everyone. I don't understand why you have befriended," he glanced to the other four, "them. I don't think I will ever know this either."  
  
Then, Mr. Benford looked at Duo. "You are too happy to be a real person. I don't believe anyone can be as insane as you are. You are rude, naive, and immature. Plus, it is your fault I am starving."  
  
Duo crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Oh, excuse me."  
  
Mr. Benford glared at Trowa and Heero. "You two don't speak to anyone, plus you both ignore people. I don't know which is worse but you both need common courtesy. And you--"  
  
Heero and Trowa gave him cold looks as he turned to the last person.  
  
He looked towards Wufei. "Being as such a low class person as you act, there is no doubt in my mind how unruly you are. When the Preventer hired people like you, I'm not sure. But they must have needed some help."  
  
Wufei glared at him.  
  
"So, this is my farewell. Run this place however you want. Live like however you want. It doesn't matter to me, anymore. You just see how the public eye'll treat you."  
  
"Pardon me for talking out of line," Trowa said. "But don't you think...to the public eye... you aren't as popular as Quatre anyways?"   
  
Mr. Benford looked at him. "What?!"  
  
"He's right," Wufei said. "People don't look up to you because you're rich. Who really cares?"  
  
"Kindness is what people see in others like Quatre," Heero went on. "I doubt they would see kindness in you."  
  
"I am a wealth person. People should look up to me. That's how most of us feel."  
  
"Wha'?" Duo said. "Quatre's richer than you and he doesn't treat us like crap."  
  
Quatre gave Duo a look, but decided to continue this lecture himself. "Besides, Mr. Benford, they're all right. No one is going to look up to you if you're mean to them. And society doesn't really matter. Empowerment doesn't help with your social life. It only does with other rich people. Haven't you ever heard that money isn't everything, and that there are some things money can't buy?"  
  
"Oh, really Mr. Winner?" Mr. Benford asked surprised. "Well, you tell me three things that are more important than money, and I will do myself a favor and leave."  
  
"Trust me, you won't be just doing yourself a favor," Duo remarked.  
  
Ignoring what Duo said, Quatre shrugged and took th1 challenge. "Alright, that's easy, Mr. Benford. Family, love, and happiness."  
  
"Good-bye," the other four said simultaneously.  
  
Mr. Benford glared at him. Still not believing you couldn't have anything without money, he picked up his luggage, turned on his heel and marched off. Everyone got up from where they had been sitting and followed him.  
  
Mr. Benford reached the door, just as Cheryl came running down the hall to him.  
  
"I heard the whole thing!" She said happily.  
  
"How?" Mr. Benford asked her, but he didn't get an answer.  
  
She opened the closet by the door, pulled out his coat and his hat and shoved it at him. "Good-bye, Mr. Benford. We'll try *really* hard not to miss you!" Then she quickly opened the door.  
  
"I get it," Mr. Benford said. "I'm not welcome here, am I?" He left out the door, with an 'hm!'  
  
The five pilots squeezed into the door frame.  
  
"Good-bye Mr. Benford!" Quatre called.  
  
"See ya, Mr. B! Don't come back, k?" Duo yelled after him.  
  
"Please, don't," Wufei repeated.  
  
They noticed a cab out by the gate. Mr. Benford must have guessed he wasn't going to be staying long. They watched him get in the cab, and it drove away. He left, leaving a bunch of happy people in the Winner mansion. They were now Mr. Benford free.  
  
The ending of chapter 4! Yay! 


	5. Epilogue

Running The Place  
Epilouge  
By BakaDaz  
  
  
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters are copyright to Bandai, Sunrise, Sotsu, and prolly everyone else but me. Original characters are made by me...yep.  
  
I want to thank everyone for reviewing! I'm glad you all like the story. Well, I just thought I should give the story an ending ending, aka, an Epilouge (the ending of the ending) This is going to be quite short, so...  
  
  
  
One week later...  
  
A butler walked down the long hallways of the nice and shiny floors of the mansion. He came to a door near the end of the hall and knocked politely. A sharp "What?" was heard and he took that as a sign to enter. Taking his gloved hand, he reached the doorknob and opened the door.  
  
Inside sat Mr. Benford, a small television to his left, and a notice in front of him to which he was reading. He looked up sharply as the door opened, and he frowned more with just seeing a butler standing there.  
  
"What is it?" he asked in a rather irritated voice.  
  
The butler stood nice and straight, he knew his presence was important. He cleared his throat and held up a flat package. "Package came for you, sir. I wanted to deliver it to you personally."  
  
Mr. Benford's eyes fell on his desk. "Set it there, I'll look at it later."  
"Sir," the old man acknowledged as he sat the item on to his desk and left, with a quick bow.  
  
Mr. Benford's eyes fell onto the package. Curiosity getting the better of him, he picked it up and observed it. The return address was written so light, he could barely see it. He didn't know how those mailmen could read it. He opened his desk and found an envelope opener. Closing the drawer, he turned the package around and slid it under the fold. Dragging it down the line he opened it up. Setting the envelope down on his desk, he reached his hand in and pulled out a thin packet.  
  
His eyebrow rose, wondering what this was all about. On the cover of the packet was written 'To Mr. Benford, you need to be lead in the right direction'.   
  
He would have laughed, but didn't feel like it. He just had an amused look on his face as he flipped it open. Some low classed animal whining about something or other, most likely. He looked at the first page and his smile faded.  
  
'Dear Mr. Benford,   
  
I do hope that you were not offended too much that day [insert week] that you accommodated in my home. My friends and I were trying to give you a first hand perspective at what those people under your rank are like. They are not bad people Mr. Benford. These people are kind and good-hearted -- well, some of the deep down inside, but they are.  
  
There's no reason to hate those just because of their lack of wealth. I have come to terms with the poorest of people sometimes, and I think I'd still rather spend a day with them than with any rich people that think of themselves as a sultan-- I mean king.  
  
I do not wish to lecture you, Mr. Benford, but merely proove you wrong. It is incorrect to look down on one; that is not what mankind was made for.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Quatre R. Winner'  
  
Mr. Benford shook his head. It was Quatre who was wrong, not himself. If you give a poor person too much pride, who knows what they may do? Society isn't run on people who have to wash their own belongings and work so hard and long (gee, I'm getting sick as I write this).  
  
But Mr. Benford was willing to go along with Quatre's idea. He turned the page and saw a listing of names. It was like in a telephone book, except there was nothing there but names lined up on the left, and the word either 'Living' or 'Deceased' in a column on the right.   
  
There were 5 pages of this, Mr. Benford noticed as he skimmed through the pages. And not one person whom he knew. When he came to the 6th and final page of the packet, there was another letter to him from Quatre.  
  
'Mr. Benford,  
  
I'm sure by now you have noticed that you know none of these people. Well, that is because they are not of your social status, and you do not care to know anyone below yours. One day after you left, my friends and I gathered all of these names to put on these pages. Do you know why?   
  
This is a short list of only some of the people who fought in the war. The war, Mr. Benford. They risked their lives, for whatever reason it was, they were fighting for it. I'm not sure if many people could stand up and do that--but these people did. Could you do it? For your own reason? Would your reason be enough to keep you going? Well, these people succeeded.  
  
Please allow yourself to understand, Mr. Benford. I believe fighting for what you believe in is being true to yourself. And you probably don't know this, but people do it every day. Look at people sometime, Mr. Benford. Not down at them, and not through hated eyes. Notice what they do to go through day to day.   
  
Oh, yes. On one small note I forgot to include some real important names of people who were in the war, and still were under your social status. These people -- people, Mr. Benford, played a terrific role. And we wouldn't be here if not for them. I commemorate 4 people, to which you still have never heard of:  
  
Trowa Barton  
Wufei Chang  
Duo Maxwell  
Heero Yuy'  
  
That was it. The page was blank. Mr. Benford raised his eyebrow and went back through the text. He counted the number of people. Then he counted the number of deceased people. He was surprised at how there were almost half as many people deceased as alive. He wasn't rather sure if that was good or bad, but he turned his eyes to the television.  
  
There was a meeting on the television. They were discussing various things. It was unlike most meetings where they gathered for one particular reason and carried on about it. It was more like a two sided and then the 'I's have it kind of thing. But what he noticed was Quatre sitting at the large meeting table.  
  
Mr. Benford watched the television for a moment, and then turned back to the little packet of papers all held together by a paperclip. He turned his head back to the television, and smiled.   
  
If Quatre said all of these people fought in the war, then they must have. But, if he says they wouldn't be here without them...he didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Quatre was -- what? -- 17 or something? He was young. The world was going into a new age; if that's the way it was going...so be it.   
  
There was a girl he knew was at the meeting too, and the center of he TV. That was Relena. He knew that everything was going to go the way she wanted it to, and if she was anything like Quatre, then he wouldn't have a say anyways.  
  
Mr. Benford reached over and shut the television off. He could see the outcome on the news tomorrow morning. He sat the packet down and stood up, just looking down on it. Then he dropped his gaze and walked towards the door, opening it, walking out, and closing it behind him.   
  
"Ms. Bella," he said to his secretary as he walked pass her. "Get me a plane to earth, immediately."  
  
"Yes sir," Ms. Bella said. She wondered why, but dared not to ask.  
Mr. Benford got to the door, and pulled his coat and hat off the hat stand.  
  
Near by, that butler was standing there watching. He immediately walked over to him, to help him with his coat and hat -- but he put them on by himself. Then he went to the door, but when the butler beat him to it, Mr. Benford smiled.   
  
"Now, now," he said. "Let me get the door. You ask the driver to meet me around front... we have flowers to buy."  
  
"F-flowers...sir?"  
  
"For those that died in the war. We need to buy flowers for them, and then go plant them in their graves on earth."  
  
"But...sir..."  
  
"Now, I expect that driver in front soon," Mr. Benford said as he walked out, leaving the butler to just watch him go.  
  
That same day, after the meeting was over...  
  
Quatre tried to sneak out of the room, before any news reporters caught him and wanted to ask him questions. He got to the door, as all the older people and Ms. Relena got hounded down, then he opened the door slowly.  
  
"Yo, Quatre!" Duo said as soon as he opened it. "Good job, man. I especially liked the part about... um... that stuff you were talking about."  
  
"He fell asleep outside," came Wufei's voice.   
  
"Hey!" Duo yelled out to him. Quatre just smiled.  
  
"Well, Duo, I have to go, could you move?" Quatre asked, tempted to get out of the same room where the cameras were.  
  
Duo shrugged. "'K." He stepped to the side and allowed Quatre to move out of the doorway, and shut the door behind him.  
  
"That was long and dull," Quatre said in a sigh.  
  
"Yeah, there's supposed to be, aren't they?" Duo asked.  
  
"How's Relena?" came Heero's monotone voice from the shadows.   
  
Quatre turned to look at him and nodded. "She's alright, just getting asked questions...poor girl."   
  
The answer to that was a 'hn' from Heero, and him opening the door and going inside.  
  
"Probably to see if any of them are going to try to drug her," came an amused Trowa from the same shadows.  
  
Quatre smiled. "Trowa, did you send that package the other day?"  
  
"Yes, Quatre. Actually, if it takes about two to three days to get there, he should have gotten it by now."  
  
"That's good," Quatre said. "I sure hope that Mr. Benford understands."  
  
Heero came back through the door, shutting it behind him, with a look on his face. "She's fine." Quatre thought it was strange he had to go see for himself, but then that was Heero.  
  
"Hey," Duo said. "Let's go eat!"  
  
Everyone turned their heads to him and a couple 'where?'s came out. To this he triumphantly replied, "McDonald's!" There were a couple groans, especially from Wufei who said he didn't want to eat disgusting American food, and Heero who was tired of being dragged to the place six days a week.  
  
"All right, I'm driving!" Duo yelled as they all started walking out.   
  
"Not if we all have a death wish," Wufei said. "I'll drive."  
  
"But you drive to slow," Duo whined.  
  
"And you drive to fast," Heero thought he'd say.  
  
"How about we walk?" Trowa asked, who liked any bit of exercise he could get.  
  
Quatre smiled. Lunch at McDonalds, friends fighting over who's going to drive, all of this stuff. He'd pick these normal, so-called 'lower classed' friends over rich snobby ones any day. (Besides, when they go out to eat, the guys pig out, which makes him look like a gentlemen and get a couple smile from any girls hanging around.)  
  
  
  
  
The End  
  
  
  
  
  
Thank you all! You didn't have to read the epilogue, trust me. I just thought I'd do it, because I said I'd do 5 chapters. And "I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie."  
  
Duo: Hey!  
  
Uh... that's not copyright to me either.Oh, and neither is McDonald's. I'm guessing that's copyright to a Mr. McDonald?  
  
Quatre: *shrugs*  
  
*shrugs* Well... thank you all for reviewing, I started crying one day, really, honest I did. You don't know how much this means to me, I've been an inspiring writer since I was in 2nd grade. You all rock! Thanks a lot! 


End file.
